Square dance

DD asked me the other day why I didn’t make any A5 notebooks or journals. I’ve been making a series of A6 ones in preparation for the KKH bazaar in October and got carried away. I’ve made A5 ones before but they were hardcover ones and I wasn’t in the hardcover kind of mood. Folding paper can be therapeutic but there’s a limit to that monotonous cut, fold, slot cycle. So I wondered about what DD said till I chanced upon a stack of used exercise books :-).

After ripping off the covers and collecting empty pages, I ended up with a sizeable stack of paper. Along with these, I kept some pages that had kiddy scibblings by both DS and DD. My memories!

The cover was pieced together using 8 5” charms from the Whirlwind Romance Blush collection and quilted. Another 4 were used for the pockets inside.

I pierced additional holes into the 8 signatures and sewed them unto the spine using the criss-cross longstitch with silver thread that matches the 2 silver ribbon page markers.

The salvaged square paper was arranged from largest to smallest, just like how DS and DD bought smaller and smaller sized square exercise books as they grew older.

 

BTW, It took me an hour just to sew these signatures. I knew ‘cos that was how long DD’s swiming lesson was. LOL! Final touch were the 2 deliberately mis-matched metal snaps placed just so, for effect.

This is definitely not for sale. Just thought I’d like to share with you. Do you have any memories you want to hold on to? *grin*

Have a blessed day!

ps:

charm = 5” square

layer cake = 10” square

fat quarter = quarter of a yard, about 18” x 25”

jelly roll = 2.5” strips, length is width of fabric

honeybun = 1” strips

Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?



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DS and DD have sling bags that they carry around so often. Waterbottle, umbrella, book, NDSL etc. Theirs is quite spacious and uses canvas which can withstand the heavy load/usage. Made from oxford, this gingerbread sling bag is smaller ('cos it's for a younger girl) and is softer. The adjustable strap is narrower (1" vs 1.5") too. Comes fully lined and lightly interfaced with 2 internal pockets. Do you like this?
ps: don't mind the creases. I'll try to break this bad habit soon and iron first before taking pics. But I was in a hurry to share this with you :-)

Do you like Thomas?

The No. 1 Blue Engine makes a debut here. Mini tote just the right size for Thomas fans. Exterior is fabric leftover from DS' backpack more than 5 years ago. Vintage?


Dimensions - 14cm (L) x 5cm (W) x 18cm (H) with 23cm handles - SOLD

Still had some Thomas fabric left and made this pencil case. Sorry about the creases, was just so excited to post this. Some stuff are fun to do, some are tedious, some are downright taxing. This was fun. Which do you like more?


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Hey, that's mine!

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I do not have a sewing machine that can embroider letters but since I had a request to personalise these wristlets, I thought I'd have a go at hand-sewing them. The only other personalisation I've ever done was for DD and DS, of course. DD likes the one where I sewed a fairy along with her name on her pencil case while DS prefers his felt bubble letters (oops, I just remembered that these felt bubble letters were not hand-sewn but personlised, nonetheless).
But I digress. Pic shows 3 of 4 requested personlised wristlets. Hand-sewn on cotton tape then machine-sewn onto the wristlet. Perhaps one day I'll be more adventurous and add flowers/hearts and more colours? Maybe after the fabric teddies. What do you think?

I like teddy bears, do you?

I had just enough of this pink teddy bear fabric to make 3 totes of different sizes for my 3 nieces. Hope they'll like it. Only 2 shown here 'cos I've yet to make the 3rd one. Ran out of batting. I probably can make the 3rd one without batting 'cos I used the thin one for these 2 but somehow, with it, there's this puffiness and softness that brings out the texture of the cloth.

ps: I'm tempted to make my own fabric teddy after seeing how cute these printed ones are. What do you think?

DD's New Journal

Made this for DD for her plain paper notebook that she's going to use for her journal. BTW, you can get really cheap notebooks at a bookshop in BBC (ground floor near Allson Hotel side). We paid 125 cents for 3 of these A6 notebooks (without lines so DD can draw).
Super combed cotton exterior (Wrap It Up! range) and cotton interior (Which you can't see 'cos it's covered by the book). 2 metal snaps keep pages dog-ear free.
If I make another (and I will... soon), I'll make the following changes:

• use a thinner interfacing. I used the thicker one which I used for the pencil cases (so that the pencil cases can stand) but while it's fun to hold since it's super smooth and soft, the snaps took a tad more effort to align and secure. Also, there's this part near the inside snap that puffs up. Thinner interfacing next time!
• include pockets. I was considering this since DD likes to collect cards and she can then slot them here on the inside of the book cover but since this is a prototype, I decided to go without. Card slots on the inside cover and maybe another zipped / snapped pocket on the outside.
• include pen pocket. This seems sensible but I didn't include. :-(
• experiment with triangle flap rather than rectangle.

What do you think?

Which one is yours?

Look what I had fun making while grounded indoors due to the rainy weather and shelved plans of attending the Festival of the Stars. How was it?
So I stayed home and cut and sewed. Which one do you like the most?
As I sewed, I made some improvements, especially to the zipped area. You might notice that there's a small bit of cloth. This allows for a neater triangle than sewing the 2 sides of the zipper's teeth together. In a nutshell, cleaner lines :-)


SOLD

Yet another pencil case



21cm (length) x 6cm (width) x 6cm (height) - SOLD

Made from Little Country Collection from Yuwa. Fully lined with super combed cotton and interfaced. Comes with lockable YKK zip. Text on the fabric says 'The Language of flowers'. Didn't know the meaning behind : Daffodil (regard), Daisy (Innocence).
Have a blessed day!

My sheep hear My voice

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I like this fabric. Oxford material that's slightly thicker than quilting fabric but still soft to touch. Cute little family of sheep. French sheep? LOL! 2 sizes here, one for carrying over the shoulder and the other for maybe, lunch hour?

Not for sale - E's

Does this look familiar? I used the same beige background corduroy as the reversible bag in an earlier post. This fits a T24 Ferror Roche box and then some. Fully lined interior and pockets as usual. There's a heart-shaped applique inside, opposite the pockets. Giving it to E tomorrow, hope she likes it!

Not for sale - mine

Found this soft to touch Japanese cotton. No selvedge to indicate where it came from but it's ok. I like it all the same. Neutral colours that are easy to match with the interior and branded handles.

I've used this a couple of times since making this few weeks back but only just added the snap today 'cos the shipment arrived this afternoon. DS prefers a colour that blends in rather than a contrasting one. What do you think? Also, since this was a prototype, it didn't have the top parts on the interior using the same fabric as the exterior. Hmmm, does that make sense? Sometimes I line the top part of the interior with the same fabric as the exterior so that when the bag is slightly open (like most of the time), you can't see the interior lining. Well, this prototype has neither that top part nor exterior fabric-lined pockets. It's all plain coloured inside. Well, it's my bag and I like it :-)

There's some yardage left and I'll get round to making another mini-tote soon.